Interesting findings here, especially with regard to the resurgence of qualitative research:

With a growth of 62% since 2012, the UK is now the world’s second-largest market for professional research. This is massively outstripping that of the UK economy as a whole, which has grown 8.7% in the same period.

So what is behind this phenomenal growth? Perhaps inevitably – data analytics. This has seen an uplift of 350% since 2012 and now employs 6,700 FTEs.

But perhaps more surprising is that qualitative research has also been identified as a key area of growth. Julie McClean, senior manager, PwC r2i, said: “This was a very strong finding, from both the survey and key informants; they all agreed there was a resurgence and re-emergence of qualitative. We see it as a counterbalance to the growth of big data.